The smoothness of data flow in communication networks, and wireless communication network in particular, can vary based on a variety of factors. A data flow can be referred to as bursty or subject to burstiness when it is substantially non-constant or non-smooth, or when it varies rapidly in a period of time. High variability in data flow smoothness can cause jitter and/or throughput delay in a communication network. One cause of variability in data flow in wireless communication networks is mobility of wireless devices. A wireless device moving within an area served by an access node, or moving from access node to access node, may use communication link resources differently over time. For example, a wireless device may use different carriers, or may be assigned a different modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for an assigned carrier. Since data flow characteristics can affect the performance of a communication network, characterizing the data flow of the communication system is important to network operators.